Red Sox’ Trop woes grow as Rays finish sweep

Same sad story

Credit: AP

Boston Red Sox pitcher Brad Penny wipes his forehead after giving up a two-run home run to Tampa Bay Rays’ Carl Crawford and then a walk to Evan Longoria during the third inning.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - It hasn’t reached the level of the Patriots’ old Orange Bowl jinx, but the Red Sox keep flopping at the Trop.

Following last night’s 6-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, the Sox have lost 14 of their past 16 regular-season games at Tropicana Field, the stadium that resembles a half-deflated birthday cake.

The Rays did all their damage with the long ball, including two-run homers by Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford, then held off a rally to pull within three games of the second-place Sox in the AL East.

“I don’t think any team likes coming in here, to be honest with you,” said Rocco Baldelli, a former Rays outfielder. “I haven’t talked to too many guys around the league who say, ‘Oh, I like playing in Tropicana Field.’ No one says that. Maybe it’s an uncomfortable place for people when they’re not used to it.”

The days of Tropicana serving as Fenway South are long over.

“It used to be all red in the stands,” Baldelli said. “You’d come out here when Tampa was playing the Sox and the streets would be flooded with Red Sox people. Three-quarters of the stands would be Red Sox people.

“It didn’t seem like there were many Red Sox fans out there tonight. I guess when you win that happens.”

The Sox are sliding at the worst time, with a four-game set against the first-place Yankees opening tonight in the Bronx. They trail the Yanks by 2 ½ games, and they have to win 3-of-4 to salvage a split on this key six-game trip against AL East rivals.

“We knew this was going to be a tough road trip coming in here and heading up there,” Baldelli said. “Four games in New York is a big series for any team that has aspirations of playing in the playoffs. We know they’ve got their big pitchers going, so we’re going to have to be ready.”

In addition to another mediocre outing from starter Brad Penny, who allowed five runs in six innings, the Sox also lost left fielder Jason Bay for what he estimates will be at least a couple of days with a recurrence of the hamstring strain that dogged him in Baltimore.

Bay provided one-third of the Red Sox offense with a solo homer in the second off off 2008 postseason hero David Price, who authored one of his best outings in an otherwise disappointing season. Victor Martinez’ first homer as a member of the Sox (16th overall) made it 4-2 in the sixth, but Penny immediately surrendered a Pat Burrell solo shot.

It was more of the same in the seventh, when the Red Sox scored without the benefit of a hit. Baldelli reached on a two-base error and scored on Jed Lowrie’s groundout, but the Rays answered with a solo homer by Jason Bartlett as the Trop erupted.

“Their team’s gotten a lot better,” third baseman Mike Lowell said. “This is a pretty good atmosphere for a game, compared to what it used to be.”

J.P. Howell walked J.D. Drew to start the ninth, but he struck out Jason Varitek and Lowrie before getting Jacoby Ellsbury to ground out.

And thus the Rays’ home mastery of the Red Sox continued.

“You see ‘Boston’ across their chest and there’s a lot of history there,” Howell said. “That gets you going. It’s the same thing with New York.

“Our games against the Red Sox are very intense. We should be as intense against other teams, but for some reason, we take one more little step up when we play these guys.”